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Research and Rescue
29/08/10 15:52
Currently I am reading a book about Al-Anon called From Survival To Recovery: Growing Up In An Alcoholic Home as part of my research for a play I have been working on. I had written two drafts of the play as a one-act and brought the last draft to a playwriting workshop with Daniel MacIvor at the Great Blue Heron Workshop in July. Although my characters were recovering alcoholics, I hadn't done a lot of research into what recovery entailed, believing that my play was about something else entirely. But discussions with Daniel opened my eyes to an aspect of my characters' experiences that I was overlooking. That made me rethink what I was trying to say and brought me to the realization that I probably needed to write this as a full-length play. It was obvious that I also needed to do some research.
I have to admit that research does not come easily to me, although I tend to always recheck things on the Internet (facts, spelling, etc) even if I'm writing an email to a friend. During the ten years that I was working (on-and-off) on my novel, research only occurred when I was stuck at some point. If I was trying to describe a character's childhood in early 20th century Poland, I realized that I needed to do some surfing on the Internet to see what I could find. Since I was writing fiction, my research was mostly to lend some kind of authenticity to my narrative. Accuracy, on the other hand, was not necessarily guaranteed. In my heart I always expect that if/when this novel is published, there will be a reader who takes me to task about some historical inaccuracy in my story. Will it matter? To some, yes, especially if they lived in Poland in the early 20th century or know someone who did. To others, I expect (hope?) they will excuse a few factual errors if the story is compelling enough.
There are writers who do not do their own research, leaving that aspect of the work to paid assistants, unpaid spouses or (if they are famous enough) star-struck interns or students. My wife, Thelma, who also acts as my in-house tech support, webmistress and proofreader, can find her way around the world wide web much easier than I. She could probably take care of all my research needs if I asked nicely enough. Still, as inept as I am, I think it is important for me to do my own research. Sometimes it comes as a nice respite from the uphill battle of trying to fill the blank screen. More often than not, actively searching for something online has yielded an interesting bit of information that adds to my understanding of a character or takes their story arc in an unexpected direction.
Most of my research takes place on the Internet, although the book I am reading came from a local library. Even though I am going to do as much research as I can before starting the next draft of my play, I know at various points in the writing I will have to stop to check or recheck some bit of information so that I can at least restore my confidence that I know what I'm writing about. What I once saw as continuous interruptions in the course of my writing, I now realize are lifelines cast into the murky waters of theme and subject. The common dictum for writers is: write what you know. But many writers (myself included) tend to write what they don't know. We understand that if there is no journey for the writer there will be none for the reader.
I have to admit that research does not come easily to me, although I tend to always recheck things on the Internet (facts, spelling, etc) even if I'm writing an email to a friend. During the ten years that I was working (on-and-off) on my novel, research only occurred when I was stuck at some point. If I was trying to describe a character's childhood in early 20th century Poland, I realized that I needed to do some surfing on the Internet to see what I could find. Since I was writing fiction, my research was mostly to lend some kind of authenticity to my narrative. Accuracy, on the other hand, was not necessarily guaranteed. In my heart I always expect that if/when this novel is published, there will be a reader who takes me to task about some historical inaccuracy in my story. Will it matter? To some, yes, especially if they lived in Poland in the early 20th century or know someone who did. To others, I expect (hope?) they will excuse a few factual errors if the story is compelling enough.
There are writers who do not do their own research, leaving that aspect of the work to paid assistants, unpaid spouses or (if they are famous enough) star-struck interns or students. My wife, Thelma, who also acts as my in-house tech support, webmistress and proofreader, can find her way around the world wide web much easier than I. She could probably take care of all my research needs if I asked nicely enough. Still, as inept as I am, I think it is important for me to do my own research. Sometimes it comes as a nice respite from the uphill battle of trying to fill the blank screen. More often than not, actively searching for something online has yielded an interesting bit of information that adds to my understanding of a character or takes their story arc in an unexpected direction.
Most of my research takes place on the Internet, although the book I am reading came from a local library. Even though I am going to do as much research as I can before starting the next draft of my play, I know at various points in the writing I will have to stop to check or recheck some bit of information so that I can at least restore my confidence that I know what I'm writing about. What I once saw as continuous interruptions in the course of my writing, I now realize are lifelines cast into the murky waters of theme and subject. The common dictum for writers is: write what you know. But many writers (myself included) tend to write what they don't know. We understand that if there is no journey for the writer there will be none for the reader.
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